I want to wake up from this nightmare! When I walk down the street, I look over my shoulder every few steps. I jump at the slightest touch and scream at the softest noise that catches me off guard. Paralyzed with fear, I constantly feel someone lurking behind me . . . watching me. I live haunted by abuse that ended over four years ago.

Making a choice to break free from the bondage of your past is a huge step in the right direction. When you acknowledge what happened, you make a decision not to let it control the rest of your life. Once you make that decision, you have to go through a healing process that can be painful, but it’s necessary to look at and uncover all the areas that were damaged during the trauma of sexual abuse. Find a counselor or a mature believer whom you trust to walk through this process with you. This process involves you opening up and being vulnerable with God and others. You’ll need to be totally honest about your emotions and the feelings that may come. Even though you may feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to talk about your past, honest communication is vital to receive healing that will last
forever.

God created us to be sexual beings, but only within the boundaries of marriage. God designed sex as an expression of mutual love between a husband and his wife.

Sex within marriage symbolizes and celebrates the covenant, or lifetime commitment, made between a man and his wife. Satan loves to take the pure gifts of God and distort them, hoping to cause us to question the character of God. One of Satan’s attempts to pervert God’s character is demonstrated through sexual abuse.

Webster’s defines abuse as “a corrupt practice” and “improper or excessive treatment.” Sexual abuse, therefore, involves people using others for corrupt and improper sexual purposes they were never created to experience.